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FIFA World Cup 2026 — Infantino reassures Iran will play in the tournament  FIFA President Gianni Infantino said Wednesday that Iran will participate in the World Cup “for sure” despite its war with the United States of America (USA).Speaking at        CNBC’s Invest in America Forum, Infantino said it is important that Iran participates in the World Cup even though its participation has been in doubt since the USA and Israel launched airstrikes on the country.“The Iranian team is coming for sure, yes,” Infantino said. “We hope that by then, of course, the situation will be a peaceful situation. As I said, that would definitely help. But Iran has to come. Of course, they represent their people. They have qualified. The players want to play.”Infantino met with the Iranian national team in Antalya, Turkey, two weeks ago and said Wednesday he was impressed.“I went to see them. They are actually quite a good team as well,” Infantino said. “And they really want to play and they should play. Sports should be outside of politics now.”Infantino acknowledged it’s not always possible to achieve the separation of sports and politics.“OK we don’t live on the moon, we live on planet Earth,” Infantino said. “But you know if there is nobody else that believes in building bridges and in keeping them, you know, intact and together, well we are doing that job.”The USA will co-host the World Cup with Canada and Mexico.Iran is scheduled to play two group-stage games in Inglewood, California, and one in Seattle.The war has raised doubts about Iran’s participation in the World Cup. There have been conflicting public comments from Iranian government and football officials.U.S. President Donald Trump discouraged the Iranian team from attending the tournament, citing safety concerns.Published on Apr 16, 2026  #FIFA #World #Cup #Infantino #reassures #Iran #play #tournament

FIFA World Cup 2026 — Infantino reassures Iran will play in the tournament

FIFA President Gianni Infantino said Wednesday that Iran will participate in the World Cup “for sure” despite its war with the United States of America (USA).

Speaking at CNBC’s Invest in America Forum, Infantino said it is important that Iran participates in the World Cup even though its participation has been in doubt since the USA and Israel launched airstrikes on the country.

“The Iranian team is coming for sure, yes,” Infantino said. “We hope that by then, of course, the situation will be a peaceful situation. As I said, that would definitely help. But Iran has to come. Of course, they represent their people. They have qualified. The players want to play.”

Infantino met with the Iranian national team in Antalya, Turkey, two weeks ago and said Wednesday he was impressed.

“I went to see them. They are actually quite a good team as well,” Infantino said. “And they really want to play and they should play. Sports should be outside of politics now.”

Infantino acknowledged it’s not always possible to achieve the separation of sports and politics.

“OK we don’t live on the moon, we live on planet Earth,” Infantino said. “But you know if there is nobody else that believes in building bridges and in keeping them, you know, intact and together, well we are doing that job.”

The USA will co-host the World Cup with Canada and Mexico.

Iran is scheduled to play two group-stage games in Inglewood, California, and one in Seattle.

The war has raised doubts about Iran’s participation in the World Cup. There have been conflicting public comments from Iranian government and football officials.

U.S. President Donald Trump discouraged the Iranian team from attending the tournament, citing safety concerns.

Published on Apr 16, 2026

#FIFA #World #Cup #Infantino #reassures #Iran #play #tournament

FIFA President Gianni Infantino said Wednesday that Iran will participate in the World Cup “for sure” despite its war with the United States of America (USA).

Speaking at CNBC’s Invest in America Forum, Infantino said it is important that Iran participates in the World Cup even though its participation has been in doubt since the USA and Israel launched airstrikes on the country.

“The Iranian team is coming for sure, yes,” Infantino said. “We hope that by then, of course, the situation will be a peaceful situation. As I said, that would definitely help. But Iran has to come. Of course, they represent their people. They have qualified. The players want to play.”

Infantino met with the Iranian national team in Antalya, Turkey, two weeks ago and said Wednesday he was impressed.

“I went to see them. They are actually quite a good team as well,” Infantino said. “And they really want to play and they should play. Sports should be outside of politics now.”

Infantino acknowledged it’s not always possible to achieve the separation of sports and politics.

“OK we don’t live on the moon, we live on planet Earth,” Infantino said. “But you know if there is nobody else that believes in building bridges and in keeping them, you know, intact and together, well we are doing that job.”

The USA will co-host the World Cup with Canada and Mexico.

Iran is scheduled to play two group-stage games in Inglewood, California, and one in Seattle.

The war has raised doubts about Iran’s participation in the World Cup. There have been conflicting public comments from Iranian government and football officials.

U.S. President Donald Trump discouraged the Iranian team from attending the tournament, citing safety concerns.

Published on Apr 16, 2026

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#FIFA #World #Cup #Infantino #reassures #Iran #play #tournament

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Deadspin | Playoff-bound Kings out to improve positioning vs. Flames <div id=""><section id="0" class=" w-full"><div class="xl:container mx-0 !px-4 py-0 pb-4 !mx-0 !px-0"><img src="https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/28731551.jpg" srcset="https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/28731551.jpg" alt="NHL: Los Angeles Kings at Vancouver Canucks" class="w-full" fetchpriority="high" loading="eager"/><span class="text-0.8 leading-tight">Apr 14, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Los Angeles Kings forward Anze Kopitar (11) during a stop in play against the Vancouver Canucks in the first period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images<!-- --> <!-- --> </span></div></section><section id="section-1"> <p>The Los Angeles Kings have a playoff spot assured entering their final regular-season contest, a visit to the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.</p> </section><section id="section-2"> <p>What has not been decided is whether the Kings (35-26-20, 90 points) will finish third in the Pacific Division or be a Western Conference wild-card team. They are tied with the Anaheim Ducks for third in the Pacific and trail the team in the first wild-card spot, the Utah Mammoth, by two points. Anaheim visits Nashville on Thursday, while Utah hosts St. Louis.</p> </section><section id="section-3"> <p>Los Angeles clinched a postseason berth with a 5-3 win over the host Seattle Kraken on Monday night.</p> </section><section id="section-4"> <p>“It’s been a climb, for sure, and it probably didn’t look very good a while ago,” said Kings interim coach D.J. Smith, who replaced Jim Hiller on March 1. “Credit to the guys and the leadership. … They’ve played playoff hockey for a while now. It’s allowed us this opportunity. We’ll see what happens now the rest of the way, and maybe we can climb another spot.”</p> </section><section id="section-5"> <p>Los Angeles, which is 6-0-2 in April, picked up another point on Tuesday night with a 4-3 overtime road loss to the Vancouver Canucks.</p> </section><section id="section-6"> <p>The Kings are 13-20 in overtime and shootouts this season.</p> </section><section id="section-7"> <p>“The good thing is we only got one more game where we’re going to deal with these 3-on-3 overtimes,” Smith said. “We get to overtime (in the Stanley Cup Playoffs), you’re going to play 5-on-5, and we’re going to find out.”</p> </section><section id="section-8"> <p>Quinton Byfield, who scored twice on Monday and has at least one goal in five consecutive road games, and Alex Laferriere had a goal and an assist each against Vancouver on Tuesday.</p> </section><br/><section id="section-9"> <p>“We know how important all these games are,” Laferriere said. “We know we can pass anybody in the standings on any given night. It was a sense of relief for us to know that we clinched, but we knew that we still wanted to push and get as high up in the standings as we could.”</p> </section> <section id="section-10"> <p>Thursday night will be captain Anze Kopitar’s final regular-season game. The 38-year-old announced before the season that this would be the final chapter of his 20-year playing career.</p> </section><section id="section-11"> <p>Kopitar has 38 points (12 goals, 26 assists) in 66 games in 2025-26.</p> </section><section id="section-12"> <p>He got his 864th career assist on Tuesday to go along with 452 goals for 1,316 points in 1,520 games.</p> </section><section id="section-13"> <p>It will also be the last regular-season game for the Flames (33-39-9, 75 points), who will miss the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. They lost 3-1 to the visiting Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night.</p> </section><section id="section-14"> <p>Calgary had won its last two at home and had gone 7-0-1 in their last eight on home ice.</p> </section><section id="section-15"> <p>Dustin Wolf made 36 saves and Blake Coleman scored the Flames’ lone goal to reach 20 for the fourth time in his career.</p> </section><section id="section-16"> <p>“It’s cool,” Coleman said of reaching the milestone. “For whatever reason, round numbers, they just feel good. It’s not an easy achievement to get to. Ask (coach Ryan Huska), I’ve got bad hands, so even more difficult for me to get there.”</p> </section><section id="section-17"> <p>Defenseman Zach Whitecloud left late in the second period after a puck hit him in the face. He is questionable for Thursday.</p> </section><br/><section id="section-18"> <p>–Field Level Media</p> </section> </div> #Deadspin #Playoffbound #Kings #improve #positioning #Flames

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Deadspin | Rory McIlroy’s Masters repeat scores CBS’ best ratings in 11 years <div id=""><section id="0" class=" w-full"><div class="xl:container mx-0 !px-4 py-0 pb-4 !mx-0 !px-0"><img src="https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/28716719.jpg" srcset="https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/28716719.jpg" alt="PGA: Masters Tournament - Final Round" class="w-full" fetchpriority="high" loading="eager"/><span class="text-0.8 leading-tight">Apr 12, 2026; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Rory McIlroy holds the Masters championship trophy during the green jacket ceremony after the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images<!-- --> <!-- --> </span></div></section><section id="section-1"> <p>Rory McIlroy’s sixth career major title — his second consecutive win at the Masters — earned a major ratings boost for CBS in the final round on Sunday afternoon.</p> </section><section id="section-2"> <p>The fourth round averaged nearly 14 million viewers — 13,995,000, more precisely — the most to watch CBS for the final day from Augusta National since the network averaged 14 million in 2015 when Jordan Spieth captured his first major, Front Office Sports reported.</p> </section><section id="section-3"> <p>Sunday’s final round was an 8% increase from April 2025 (12.71 million), when McIlroy completed a career grand slam. The Northern Irishman’s dramatic, emotional finish last year came in a playoff against England’s Justin Rose.</p> </section><section id="section-4"> <p>The 2026 edition also came with tension, as McIlroy shared the top of the leaderboard after the first round, surged to a record six-shot lead after 36 holes but saw that erased as he and Cameron Young were tied for the lead after three rounds.</p> </section><br/><section id="section-5"> <p>Viewership numbers reflected that, as the third round averaged 8.1 million on CBS, a 14% increase from 7.6 million in 2025 and the largest number since Tiger Woods played the third round en route to his 2019 victory.</p> </section> <section id="section-6"> <p>As McIlroy lost and regained his lead on Sunday, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler charged from four strokes behind and finished one shot back of McIlroy, who joined Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Woods as the only consecutive champions in Masters history.</p> </section><section id="section-7"> <p>The ratings followed on Sunday, peaking at slightly more than 20 million viewers — the largest at the Masters since 2013, when Adam Scott earned the green jacket and Woods tied for fourth. The peak viewership in 2025 was 19.54 million.</p> </section><section id="section-8"> <p>The 2026 Masters was the first since Nielsen began compiling ratings figures exclusively through its Big Data+ Panel methodology. The expanded system, designed for a more holistic and accurate view of audience behaviors, generally results in higher overall ratings for live sports broadcasts compared to the old method, according to Front Office Sports.</p> </section><section id="section-9"> <p>–Field Level Media</p> </section></div> #Deadspin #Rory #McIlroys #Masters #repeat #scores #CBS #ratings #years

“Hammond, Indiana. Okay. If you’ve been to Soldier Field and you’ve been on the lakefront and you are somebody that is a romantic like myself, that’s where football should be played, on the lakefront right in front of those giant skyscrapers, right next to that big, beautiful park with the best coach in football, with one of the best young quarterback. But that ain’t happening. Grow up, Peter Pan. I’m talking to myself. Grow up, Peter Pan.”

“That ain’t happening. Okay. Arlington Heights. One of the most state-of-the-art beautiful property in the north suburbs. Arlington Heights. I don’t know if you’ve ever been there, but they have a racetrack that they demolished there that I said, ‘Oh, it’s a no-brainer. They would never knock down something of such historical significance to Chicago.‘ Well, it didn’t work. Hammond, Indiana is happening. Okay, now let’s let’s not play doom and gloom. Let’s do a little mental health check in and say, what are the positives here? The positives are it’s closer to downtown. It’s closer to downtown than Arlington Heights would be. It’s in fact 30 minutes closer to downtown than where the Bears training facility is on the north side in Lake Forest where I lived. You get the unique opportunity. It’s almost like I’m going to use the phrase, I don’t fully understand it, but I’m going to use the phrase manifest destiny. Okay? Remember when people were just moving west and they’re like, I’m going to put a flag down here.”

“This looks like a nice little hill. This is my hill. I’m going to call it Johnny’s Hill. You know, like I think about all the it’s the American dream. Well, you know what? It didn’t work out in Chicago. So, just follow that coast south down to Hammond, Indiana. And I can promise you this, if they do it the right way, like a number of these teams have done, you get the opportunity to have a state-of-the-art venue for anything that you want. You get the opportunity to own your stadium and the land around it outright. You get to make it exactly how you want to make it. And I’ve heard a lot of things about Hammond, Indiana. More often than not, not good things. But I can guarantee you this. There are people, there are kids, there are generations of Bears fans that are down there that are so excited to welcome you and show you that area with open arms and you get to make it yours.”

“Now, I know that’s a slap in the face to a lot of people, including myself, but it’s time to get to the next level. And they can do that there. Winning to me, what does success look like to me? It looks like a quarterback that’s on schedule in first and second down and continues to do what he does on third down and in the fourth quarter. I think building a defense that can stop the run and rush the passer on third down and got to have it rush downs. That would be great. I think everything is moving in the right direction and I think this Hammond, Indiana thing is a unique opportunity for the Bears to really take the next step.”

“I remember when St. Louis moved to LA, and granted, it was a lot more miles for that move. They become a serious contender overnight and the Bears already are a serious contender. So imagine what happens if you pump some caffeine into that.”

#Kyle #Long #optimistic #Bears #moving #Hammond #Indiana">Kyle Long is trying to be optimistic about the Bears maybe moving to Hammond, Indiana  “Hammond, Indiana. Okay. If you’ve been to Soldier Field and you’ve been on the lakefront and you are somebody that is a romantic like myself, that’s where football should be played, on the lakefront right in front of those giant skyscrapers, right next to that big, beautiful park with the best coach in football, with one of the best young quarterback. But that ain’t happening. Grow up, Peter Pan. I’m talking to myself. Grow up, Peter Pan.”“That ain’t happening. Okay. Arlington Heights. One of the most state-of-the-art beautiful property in the north suburbs. Arlington Heights. I don’t know if you’ve ever been there, but they have a racetrack that they demolished there that I said, ‘Oh, it’s a no-brainer. They would never knock down something of such historical significance to Chicago.‘ Well, it didn’t work. Hammond, Indiana is happening. Okay, now let’s let’s not play doom and gloom. Let’s do a little mental health check in and say, what are the positives here? The positives are it’s closer to downtown. It’s closer to downtown than Arlington Heights would be. It’s in fact 30 minutes closer to downtown than where the Bears training facility is on the north side in Lake Forest where I lived. You get the unique opportunity. It’s almost like I’m going to use the phrase, I don’t fully understand it, but I’m going to use the phrase manifest destiny. Okay? Remember when people were just moving west and they’re like, I’m going to put a flag down here.”“This looks like a nice little hill. This is my hill. I’m going to call it Johnny’s Hill. You know, like I think about all the it’s the American dream. Well, you know what? It didn’t work out in Chicago. So, just follow that coast south down to Hammond, Indiana. And I can promise you this, if they do it the right way, like a number of these teams have done, you get the opportunity to have a state-of-the-art venue for anything that you want. You get the opportunity to own your stadium and the land around it outright. You get to make it exactly how you want to make it. And I’ve heard a lot of things about Hammond, Indiana. More often than not, not good things. But I can guarantee you this. There are people, there are kids, there are generations of Bears fans that are down there that are so excited to welcome you and show you that area with open arms and you get to make it yours.”“Now, I know that’s a slap in the face to a lot of people, including myself, but it’s time to get to the next level. And they can do that there. Winning to me, what does success look like to me? It looks like a quarterback that’s on schedule in first and second down and continues to do what he does on third down and in the fourth quarter. I think building a defense that can stop the run and rush the passer on third down and got to have it rush downs. That would be great. I think everything is moving in the right direction and I think this Hammond, Indiana thing is a unique opportunity for the Bears to really take the next step.”“I remember when St. Louis moved to LA, and granted, it was a lot more miles for that move. They become a serious contender overnight and the Bears already are a serious contender. So imagine what happens if you pump some caffeine into that.”  #Kyle #Long #optimistic #Bears #moving #Hammond #Indiana

Lionel Messi found the net with his third touch in the FIFA World Cup 2026 warm-up match between Argentina and Iceland in Alabama, USA on Tuesday.

Messi marked his return from a muscle strain by scoring from the penalty spot in the 71st minute, just seconds after coming off the bench. The Argentine sent fans into raptures with an emphatic finish from 12 yards.

It was Messi’s 911th career goal for club and country and 117th goal for Argentina and made him the oldest scorer in the country’s football history.

Messi did not play in Argentina’s friendly win over Honduras on Saturday.

Published on Jun 10, 2026

#WATCH #Lionel #Messi #scores #Argentina #Iceland #FIFA #World #Cup #warmup #match">WATCH: Lionel Messi scores in Argentina vs Iceland FIFA World Cup 2026 warm-up match  Lionel Messi found the net with his third touch in the FIFA World Cup 2026 warm-up match between Argentina and Iceland in Alabama, USA on Tuesday.Messi marked his return from a muscle strain by scoring from the penalty spot in the 71st minute, just seconds after coming off the bench. The Argentine sent fans into raptures with an emphatic finish from 12 yards.pic.twitter.com/Y5URIeyx53— Messi World (@MessiWorld101) June 10, 2026It was Messi’s 911th career goal for club and country and 117th goal for Argentina and made him the oldest scorer in the country’s football history.Messi did not play in Argentina’s friendly win over Honduras on Saturday.Published on Jun 10, 2026  #WATCH #Lionel #Messi #scores #Argentina #Iceland #FIFA #World #Cup #warmup #match

It was Messi’s 911th career goal for club and country and 117th goal for Argentina and made him the oldest scorer in the country’s football history.

Messi did not play in Argentina’s friendly win over Honduras on Saturday.

Published on Jun 10, 2026

#WATCH #Lionel #Messi #scores #Argentina #Iceland #FIFA #World #Cup #warmup #match">WATCH: Lionel Messi scores in Argentina vs Iceland FIFA World Cup 2026 warm-up match

Lionel Messi found the net with his third touch in the FIFA World Cup 2026 warm-up match between Argentina and Iceland in Alabama, USA on Tuesday.

Messi marked his return from a muscle strain by scoring from the penalty spot in the 71st minute, just seconds after coming off the bench. The Argentine sent fans into raptures with an emphatic finish from 12 yards.

It was Messi’s 911th career goal for club and country and 117th goal for Argentina and made him the oldest scorer in the country’s football history.

Messi did not play in Argentina’s friendly win over Honduras on Saturday.

Published on Jun 10, 2026

#WATCH #Lionel #Messi #scores #Argentina #Iceland #FIFA #World #Cup #warmup #match

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